Trump ally facing UAE lobbying charges released on massive $250m bond

The chair of former President Donald Trump's inaugural committee who faces charges he secretly worked as an agent for the the United Arab Emirates to influence Trump’s foreign policy was ordered released from jail Friday on $250 million bail.

Tom Barrack, 74, who was arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles near where he lives, was among three men charged in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, with conspiring to influence U.S. policy on the UAE's behalf during Trump's 2016 campaign and while he was president.

Barrack, who founded the private equity firm Colony Capital, used his long personal friendship with Trump to benefit the UAE without disclosing his ties to the U.S. government, prosecutors said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue in Los Angeles federal court ordered strict conditions for Barrack's release. He must surrender passports, wear a GPS-monitor to track his whereabouts, limit travel between Southern California and New York City and obey a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Barrack is charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 2019 interview with federal agents. Matthew Grimes, 27, a former executive at Barrack’s company from Aspen, Colorado, and Rashid al Malik, 43, a businessman from the United Arab Emirates who prosecutors said acted as a conduit to that nation’s rulers were also charged in the seven-count indictment.

Grimes was ordered released on $5 million bail.

Barrack has not entered a plea in the case, but a spokesman said he would plead not guilty.

Barrack is one of several of the former president’s associates to face criminal charges, including his former campaign chair, his former deputy campaign chair, his former chief strategist, his former national security adviser, his former personal lawyer and his company’s longtime chief financial officer.

Barrack raised $107 million for Trump’s inaugural celebration, which was scrutinized both for its lavish spending and for attracting numerous foreign officials and businesspeople looking to lobby the new administration.

Barrack and Grimes were ordered to appear Monday in a Brooklyn federal court for arraignment.